Creative techniques to strategically attract audiences.

Four Ways to Tell Your Story

As discussed in last week’s blog post, establishing a connection with potential clients is essential to stand out from the competition. That may sound like an easy concept on paper, but sometimes it can be slightly confusing as to how to get your story across, or how to make it really shine. Fortunately, there are several ways of presenting it to the world:

1. Your personal story

If you overcame any type of hardship or uphill battle in order to open or expand your business, or if you received an amazing insight that transformed your outlook on business, talk about it. People will more easily relate to you when they realize that you’re not a static figure that came out of the blue, but rather someone that has traveled through their own journeys.

2. Your company’s story

Not only is your personal story important for people to establish a connection, but your company’s growth can add some oomph to the mix. Take, for example, a business like Yankee Produce Company, a local business that started with $70.00 in cash and by making deliveries from a Toyota Tacoma, to now having their own warehouse, refrigerated trucks, and being the exclusive caterer for Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.

People love stories like that. It’s like reading The Little Engine that Could all over again. Why would someone purchase wholesale from Costco or Wal-Mart when they know they can support a local, homegrown business?

3. Your employees’ story

Employees are important. If you treat them as a means to an end, you will have a high turnover rate; and if every time a client calls your office or stops by, they are greeted by a different person, it will reflect badly on your business.

If one of your employees reaches a new sales goal or signs up a prominent client, celebrate it. Include it in a blog post or newsletter, letting potential clients know about internal company success — with the added extra bonus of boosting office morale.

4. Other clients’ success stories

Be proud of what you do! If you’re an accountant, and you helped a client save thousands of dollars on their taxes from one year to another, talk about it! If you’ve won more cases than most other law firms in your area, let people know about it by sharing how your services made someone’s life better.

People will deduce that if you were able to help so many others, they can also benefit from doing business with you.

Sharing all of these types of stories says a lot more about you than just sharing your company background or your mission statement: It speaks to your commitment to excellence, how much you value teamwork, and that you celebrate other people’s successes as if they were your own.

It’s refreshing to see this happening in an age when people’s ego tends to take center stage. As the saying goes, “No man is an island,” and by implementing these suggestions, you display how being interconnected makes your business stronger.

Alex Rodríguez develops high-end digital marketing campaigns that transform brands and attract business. He is the author of Digital BACON. His clientele has run the gamut from top-level advertising agencies and Fortune500 corporations, through national broadcast networks, to award-winning production firms. He heads up the team at YMMY Marketing. Connect with Alex via LinkedIn or Twitter